


The Very First Words of a Lifelong Love Letter

by Chash



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, College, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: When Luz left the Boiling Isles six years ago, Amity kissed her goodbye, and that was the end of things. The portal between realms was closed, and Luz would never see any of them again.And then she walks into art history and finds Amity there.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 45
Kudos: 1339





	The Very First Words of a Lifelong Love Letter

**Author's Note:**

> I started this before the season finale and then tweaked it some to make it compliant with that episode, so vague spoilers but we've mostly fast-forwarded past the show plot anyway.

Luz has heard the phrase "you're the last person I ever expected to see" before and has always privately thought it was kind of silly. After all, if she was making a list of last people she ever expected to see in any given situation, it would probably be full of dead people and celebrities and fictional characters, not actual people she knew, who would always be more expected than, say, the good witch Azura.

But when she walks into her first art history class junior year and sees _Amity Blight_ already sitting in the front row, she really is the last person Luz would have ever expected to see. Azura would have been less shocking. Even _Eda_ would have made more sense.

But never Amity. Not in a million years.

Luz is honestly amazed she recognizes her so immediately and surely, because it's been so long and the whole idea is so unthinkable, but there's no doubt in Luz's mind. She's wearing a green t-shirt and jeans with a black beanie, Luz assumes to cover the tips of her ears, but what she can see of her hair is back to its natural color. She's grown up in all the normal ways people do in six years, but there's something undeniably familiar about her, a bright, hot spark of recognition, Luz's entire being reaching out, saying, _it's her, it's her, it's her_.

Amity Blight, in the human realm. Amity Blight, _at her school_. And not, Luz realizes, waiting for her. If it had been Eda, this would have been part of a grand production, a deliberate set-up, like the world's weirdest surprise party. There would have been razzle and dazzle. But Amity has a notebook out, a bag by her feet, and all her attention is focused on the empty podium, as if she's willing a professor to arrive and the class to start even though she's here fifteen minutes early.

Like it never even occurred to her to look for Luz in her own realm.

"Excuse me," says someone behind Luz, pointed, and she jumps, realizing she stopped dead in her tracks right in front of the door, and there's a small line of students waiting to get in.

"Sorry, sorry," she says, stepping aside without taking her eyes off Amity. If she heard the commotion, she didn't turn her head, and Luz isn't sure if that's a good thing or not.

The last time Luz saw Amity Blight, Eda was about to send her--Luz, not Amity--into the portal she'd managed to open to the human realm. It had been a bitter argument between the two of them--Emperor Belos was still in power, Eda was still on the run, her friends were still in danger--but Lilith insisted they had to sever the connection to the human realm to protect it from the emperor's plans, and if Luz was on the wrong side, she might never be able to get back. 

"We're fine here, kid," Eda had assured her. "My curse is under control, we've got plenty of support." She gave a toothy half smile. "Don't get me wrong, I wish you could stay. But it's time for you to go home."

And Luz couldn't really argue with that. When she'd stayed the first time, it was to save Eda, and she had accepted that she might be stuck here. But with Eda healthy and the reality of never going home staring her in the face, there wasn't a good reason for her to stay. 

Her adventure was over; she'd said goodbye to all her friends, and Amity had kissed her.

"Amity, wh--"

"No time," said Eda. "You'll figure it out."

And then she was through the portal and back at the old shack in the woods in her own realm, with no way of knowing what was happening on the Boiling Isles and the ghost of Amity still tingling on her lips.

She went back to the woods regularly, hoping she'd run into Eda or Owlbert, hoping this would be the day that the portal was restored and she could go back, but it never came. Her runes crumpled to dust when she tried to cast anything and every day, it got harder and harder to believe that any of it had happened, that it hadn't all been some strange dream, some impossible wonder.

Of course, Amity is here now. So that's another point for the _real_ column.

She hasn't thought about Amity _more_ than she thought about Eda and King and Willow and Gus, these last six years, but she thought about her differently. She thought about the things she'd missed and the questions she wanted to ask. Had Amity _liked her_ liked her, or did she just think kissing was what you were supposed to do when you said goodbye to humans? If she'd stayed, would Amity have kissed her anyway? Did Amity miss her? She knew everyone else did, and was even sure she knew _how_ they missed her, but Amity was a giant question mark, a mystery she couldn't solve.

Until now, anyway.

It's still early enough that there are plenty of free seats in the hall, and everyone is still avoiding sitting next to strangers. Amity is alone in her section of seats, and as she gets closer, Luz can see the tension in her shoulders. No matter what's going on, Luz can imagine how anxious she must be feeling. At Hexside, she was the star pupil, and now she's in an art history class in another world. Anyone would be nervous.

A friendly face will probably help. 

With a little more time, Luz might be able to come up with a cool opening line, but she's still working through the confusion stage. The best she can do is slide into the seat next to Amity and ask, "So, what's a witch like you doing in a realm like this?" Which honestly sounded a lot better in her head.

Still, it does the trick. Amity startles, pulling her beanie down even farther over her ears, and stares at Luz in blank, wild confusion for a second before recognition sets in. "Luz!"

"You shouldn't be the surprised one here. I live here! What are _you_ doing in my class?"

"Your class?"

"Art History 101, yup."

"I'm--" She shakes her head, laughs a little. "I'm studying abroad for the year."

"Studying abroad? Here?"

Even after all these years, the blush is so familiar. "I was curious. I wanted to see your realm."

"Okay, but you can't just say that like it's normal! When I left--" She glances around, checks to make sure no one is too close, and lowers her voice for good measure. "I left because no one could come here, and I never found a way back, so you can't just say you're studying abroad like that's a thing! I need so much more information."

Amity is smiling. "You haven't changed." She tucks a few errant strands of hair under her hat. "I can explain more later, but--there's a new way to crossover, and two of us decided to come here to learn more about the human world."

"You and Gus?"

"Of course. He's at another school, in--" She makes a face. "Ill-eye-no-is. Eda comes through too, when she can. She's been trying to find you."

"She has?" Luz has always assumed that if there was travel between the two realms again, Eda would come immediately, but now that she thinks about it, it probably wouldn't be that easy. After all, Eda didn't know her address, or even her cell phone number. Unless they'd been at the old shack at the same time, they might never have found each other.

"You know Eda wouldn't just give up on you."

Her voice is gentle and a little wistful, and Luz's stomach lurches with guilt. "How are things with your parents? It doesn't seem like they'd be thrilled you were spending time in the human realm. That's, like, a thousand times worse than just spending time with me."

"They haven't been happy with me for a while," Amity admits. "After you left, I think they were hoping things would go back to the way they were before, that it was just your human powers influencing. But I never wanted to be the person I was before I met you again."

"You weren't all bad," Luz teases. "But I did make some improvements."

Amity laughs, that bright, surprised laugh Luz never got tired of on the Boiling Isles. "Maybe a few."

Luz has to shake her head, speechless with wonder for a second. "I can't believe you're here."

"I can't believe I'm here either."

"So you--" she starts, but the room quiets in the quick, sudden way that can only mean the professor has showed up. Luz and Amity tear their eyes away from each other to face the front instead. Luz always struggles with first classes--she likes college, generally, because she gets to study things she's interested in, but first classes tend to be all syllabuses and bookkeeping. Even without Amity next to her, so close she can feel the heat coming off her air, Luz would be distracted, but this is mild torture.

Luckily, the professor seems to feel the same way Luz does about first classes. She moves through the syllabus quickly, asks if anyone has questions, and then dismisses the class after a tight twenty minutes.

It should be a relief, but somehow, not being able to talk to Amity and being able to talk to her are equally stressful; Luz has no idea what to say. _Why did you kiss me six years ago_ isn't really the most relevant question, but her brain is full of it.

Apparently Amity's isn't, but to be fair, she probably knows the answer already. "When's your next class?"

"Not until eleven."

"Do you want to get--coffee?"

She says the word like she's only just learned it, with two very distinct syllables: cough-fee. "Have you ever had coffee before?" 

"No, but Gus tells me it's what hu--people drink in the morning. Was he wrong?"

"Actually, no. But you might not like it. And I don't know if you've ever had caffeine? We should be careful."

"How am I going to blend in if I can't drink coffee?"

"Not all humans drink coffee," Luz assures her. "I can't drink it black. And I definitely can't have too much caffeine. My mom says I have enough energy already."

Amity looks away to smile. "I can't argue with her on that. How are the two of you doing? Did you ever tell her what happened?"

"Yeah, not too long after I got back. She thought I was just making it up, but I showed her some of the videos on my phone. She fainted, but when she woke up, she believed me, soooo--happy ending!"

"Happy ending," Amity agrees.

Luz holds the door for her as they leave the building. "How bad is it with your parents? Really." There aren't a lot of people around them, but no one seems to be paying them any attention. It's probably as safe a time as any to have this conversation.

"We were on opposite sides of a civil war."

"Wow. Hard to get worse than that, huh."

"At least they accepted that we won. And Ed and Em sided with Eda, I wasn't expecting that. They actually really helped."

Luz swallows hard. "How's she doing? Eda."

"I think she's still getting used to being a respectable member of society. She has a ton of students now. King is trying to turn them into his personal army."

She has to smile. "I can imagine."

"I wish I could take you to see her now."

"Why can't you?"

Amity sighs. "The new portal only opens on full moons. We can visit in a month, but not until then."

A month feels impossibly far away, but at the same time, she thought she'd never see any of them ever again. Amity is right here, and she can see Eda and King and Willow in a month. By any standards, it's good news.

"And Gus is here."

"We can call him. We have phones, like yours."

Luz shakes her head. "You thought of everything."

"Not everything," Amity says, a small smile playing on her lips. "None of us thought of this."

*

Aside from her mother, Luz has only told only one person about her experience in the Boiling Isles. Luckily, that person is her freshman-year roommate, and the two of them still live next to each other, so it's not hard for Luz to find Alanna and faceplant onto her bed.

Even better, Alanna is used to this, so she doesn't even look away from her video game. "What happened now?"

"Amity is here."

The shock isn't as immediate as Luz hoped. "Who?"

"Amity. From the Boiling Isles."

Alanna jerks towards Luz, eyes wide. "Your witch girlfriend?"

"Never actually my girlfriend!" Luz says. "Don't call her that. But yes, her."

"How? I thought you said you couldn't get back."

Once they'd settled in with their caramel lattes--a first for Amity, which she thought tasted "fine"--Amity had given more of an explanation of the last six years in the Boiling Isles: the overthrow of the emperor, the dissolution of covens, the rise of a new world order. And it all made sense, everything fitting together neatly, but Luz couldn't help wishing she could have been a part of it. She does her best to do good here in her own realm, which has plenty of its own problems, but couldn't she have done more in the Boiling Isles? She could have been part of a whole revolutionary movement, instead of being in high school hating the entire government and public school system.

Which is a lot more than Alanna needs to hear; for now, her best friend gets the abbreviated version, the bare minimum amount of information required to explain why Luz couldn't get in touch with anyone before and why things have changed now. Later, she'll probably tell her the whole story, but it's all still too new and fresh. She's going to focus on one thing at a time, starting with Amity Blight, here, in her realm, at her college, in some of her classes.

That's definitely the top priority.

"It's a good thing, right?" Alanna asks, frowning. "Not just Amity being here, but all of it. You missed them, right?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"So what's the problem?"

"There's no _problem_ ," says Luz, but her heart's not in it, and she sighs, rubbing her hands over her face. "When I first went to the Boiling Isles, I thought that was it, you know? My big, heroic destiny. I was going to go on quests and save the world, and then I just--I did a lot of amazing things, but I mostly hung around with friends and went to school and it was all magical, but it wasn't like I imagined. And then I left, and I couldn't get back, and that was it! I've spent six years accepting that I was done, and now here's Amity and all the stuff I thought was over isn't."

Alanna takes this in for a second, and then nods. "Okay, yeah. That would be weird."

Alanna is named after her mother's favorite fantasy heroine, so she understands better than most people how much Luz longed to travel to another world, to have the kind of adventure she'd only read about. The only difference between them was that Luz actually got to do it; the closest Alanna ever came was working at the ren faire over the summer.

If she's honest, Luz doesn't know if she could be as cool about the whole thing as Alanna is. She would be burning up with jealousy.

"It's so weird! I always thought about me going back, I never thought about them coming here. And Amity! I didn't think she'd ever want to come here. She's, like, the most magical person I know, other than Eda. And she's here! Taking classes."

"Maybe she came because she missed you."

"If all she wanted to do was see me, she wouldn't have enrolled in classes. Not that there's anything wrong with classes! But school isn't really about me. She wanted to come."

"It could still be about you. You're the only human she knows, right? So if she's interested in humans, it's because of you." She taps her jaw. "If you didn't date, what happened? There was something, right? I don't remember the details."

"She kissed me goodbye and I spent, like, two years trying to send her love letters. But I don't actually know if she, like--I don't know what it meant to her."

Alanna gives her an exasperated smile. "Was it on the lips?"

"Yeah."

"How many things could that mean? It's not exactly ambiguous, Luz."

"Well, not _here_. But for all I know, it's some weird Boiling Isles thing! Like whenever you say goodbye to the person who helped you fight a magic book, you kiss them. It wouldn't be weirder than a lot of other stuff they did!"

"Do you know if she likes girls?"

"It never really came up. They were pretty casual about that stuff over there, I saw lots of same-sex couples and no one ever said anything. I guess when dating a totally different species is normal, you don't get too hung up about gender."

"So have you thought about just asking her?"

"I don't want her to think I'm hung up on some kiss from six years ago. Especially if she's not hung up on it. And what if she just did it because she really thought she was never going to see me again? It's already weird enough, do I really need to make it weirder?"

"That is kind of your specialty."

"Not because I _want_ it to be."

"So, are you going to go back?"

"I don't know. I want to see Eda and King and Willow next full moon, but--"

But she was never supposed to stay there, even if she wanted to. It wasn't her place and she never really fit in the Isles, broadly speaking. She was a human and she stuck out like a sore thumb.

But even now, she's never felt as at home anywhere as she did at the Owl House. Sometimes, she feels sick with guilt over it, because she loves her mom and she has a good life here, but it's never been enough to make her feel like she belongs.

"I don't even know what it's like there anymore," she finishes. It could be different, right? Maybe Eda only taught her because no one else wanted to hang around a criminal. She has other students now; she might not even have time to teach Luz how to use her weird, human magic.

"Could I see it, if you went?" Alanna asks, almost shy. "Could I come with you?"

"Of course! I mean, I think so. I probably can't bring a lot of people, but you and my mom are the only ones who know. And honestly, I'm not sure my mom would want to come. I think she likes to pretend the videos were a hoax and I made the whole thing up."

"My mom would love it."

"I'm thinking we don't tell anyone's mom just yet," she says, a little too quickly. "Just to be safe."

Alanna laughs. "So, when do I get to meet the witch girlfriend?"

"As soon as you stop calling her that!" She pauses. "Well, I guess you could do that now and I still couldn't introduce you yet. I'm going over to her dorm after dinner and we're going to FaceTime our friend Gus. But maybe tomorrow? I'll ask her. I assume she wants to make some friends."

"Is she still cute?"

Luz could deny it, but there isn't much point. Alanna's going to meet her and see how cute she is. "Yeah."

"Sounds like good news all the way down."

"It does sound like that," Luz agrees. "We'll see."

*

"LUZ!!"

Gus is not good at FaceTime. Luz has no idea where his face is relative to the phone because all she's seeing is a lamp. But maybe he'll get the hang of it.

"Hey, Gus."

"I can't believe it! You and Amity go to the same school? What are the odds? I should have come there. But I do like Chi-cago."

He says it with a hard c at the start, and Luz winces. "You haven't told anyone else that, have you?"

"Told them what?"

"It's Chicago. Chicago. And Illinois."

"Ohhh. That explains some weird looks I got. Whatever, I love it here! Things are going great. How are things with you?"

Luz glances over her shoulder at Amity. In the privacy of her room, she's removed the beanie, and Luz feels remarkably better seeing her ears. The final proof that this really is Amity.

"Totally surreal, but good! I didn't know if I was ever going to see you guys again."

"Hey, Eda always wanted to find a way to get you back in. We just had to wait until the Emperor was out of the way so he couldn't use the portal for some evil scheme. And then we had to figure out how to open a new portal. But after that!"

"I know, Amity told me. It's really great to talk to you."

"And you're going to see Willow and Eda next full moon, right?"

"I think I can take her," Amity puts in. "You know we can't see you, right?"

"You can't? Why not?"

"You're not on camera. I know you have scrolls that do video chat, how is the learning curve so high?" Luz asks, aiming the question at both of them. Without her help, Amity wouldn't be doing much better with the call than Gus is.

"How long did it take you to learn your first spell?" Amity shoots back.

"It's not a spell, it's--" She pauses. "I guess it is kind of magical."

Gus's face finally pops into view. The six years show more on him than they do on Amity--he was a kid, and now he's grown up. Eighteen looks good on him. "Better?"

"Much! Hi! It's so good to see you!" She blinks. "What happened to your ears?" Unlike Amity, he's hatless, and the tops of his ears are as round as hers.

"Illusion magic, baby! No one ever has to know."

"That's amazing! I wasn't even sure your magic worked here. How are you liking the human realm?"

"It's great! So different than I thought! Like, wow, we had it so wrong."

"Yeah," Luz admits. "But I liked it! I'm not used to people thinking all my stuff is some mysterious, magical artifact. It's just normal for me."

"And I am going to make so many snails bringing back stuff to sell."

Amity frowns. "I thought Lilith said we couldn't do that."

"Sure, _Lilith_ did. Eda said if I brought things back, she'd sell them and we'd split the profits 70-30."

"Who gets the seventy?" asks Luz.

"Me!"

"Wow, Eda has really mellowed out."

"Or she's lying to me. Either way, a win for Gus!"

They catch up until someone stops by Gus's room asking if he wants to play video games, which of course he does, and then exchange numbers so they can text, which he's still getting the hang of. He says goodbye to Amity with a reference she doesn't get, and to her surprise, it makes her smile more than it makes her hurt. She's glad that things didn't fall apart after she left, that Amity kept on rebelling against her parents and pushing back against her bullying former friends, that she ended up fitting in with Willow and Gus even without Luz there to run interference. If they have their own in-jokes, it's just because they had good times together. It's impossible to resent that.

"I should probably get your number too," Amity offers, a little shy. "So we can get in touch when we need to."

"Oh, yeah! Definitely." She cocks her head, studying her. "Are you just always going to wear a hat when you're not in the room?" Or can you do the spell like Gus?"

She touches her left ear, flushing a little. "Oh, um--he taught me. I haven't tested to see if it works yet, I wanted to see how I liked the hat, just in case. Honestly, I wasn't even sure if our magic would work here, but I guess it does. You said yours doesn't?"

"Not at all. I guess that's what I get for not having a magical bile sack or whatever."

Amity lets out a long breath. "Will you stay here while I try it? Let me know if I look like a real human?"

"Yeah, of course! I don't have anything else to do. We don't have homework yet."

"No parties to go to?" she asks, raising one eyebrow. "No dates?"

"Nope and nope. I mean, sometimes I go to parties and date people, but I don't have any parties and I'm not dating anyone right now. I'm all yours!"

The pause that follows those words probably isn't as long as it feels to Luz, but Amity turns away to start rooting through her drawers, so the awkwardness definitely isn't all in her head.

"I'm still not great with illusions," she says, still not looking at Luz. "I know it worked for Gus, but I'm not sure I can do it. He wrote out instructions for me, but--"

"Amity, breathe. You're going to be fine. You're an amazing witch, you can do this. And if you can't, we can go shopping and find you a bunch of cool hats for you to wear. That can be your thing! Hat girl."

"I don't know if I want to be hat girl." Her tone is dubious, but at least when she turns to face Luz again, she's smiling. "And I had to go to the shower this morning with a towel already wrapped around my head. So I would really like this to work."

"And I bet it will!" Luz sits cross-legged on the bed, watching eagerly. "Go for it!"

Amity draws the familiar circle in the air, and just like that, her ears look as human as Luz's. "So?" asks Amity.

"Gus does good work." Luz bites her lip. "Can I ask something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you decide to come? Really. Not that--I get that you're curious, but a whole nine months in the human realm? That's a lot."

"I thought it was normal. I came through a couple times before I started school to investigate and heard that people do years abroad. It seemed like a good cover story."

"Where are you supposed to be from?"

"Canada. No accent, and I don't have to speak any other human languages."

"Wow, you guys did your homework, huh?"

"We wanted it to work."

"Because..." Luz prompts, and Amity looks away.

"Because this is your world. I don't think you ever understood how different you felt, Luz."

She feels the anxiety stiffen her back, her whole body prickling with it. "Different?"

"Not in a bad way!" Amity says, way too quickly. "Just--sometimes an outside perspective helps. I thought I knew everything and I was doing everything right, and in three months, you made me realize how stupid I'd been and how much I had to learn. So I wanted to see where you came from and what I could learn here."

"Oh. I guess when you put it like that, it doesn't sound so bad."

"And I was hoping I'd see you again. Not that I was expecting to be at your school! I really had no idea."

"Hey, fair's fair. I showed up at your school with no warning, so now it's your turn!"

Amity smiles. "I guess, when you put it like that."

*

If anyone has ever written a definitive guide to how much time you're supposed to spend with the girl who kissed you moments before you left an alternate realm apparently never to return, Luz hasn't been able to find it with any of her google searches. She _has_ found a few reddit relationships posts about interpreting signals, but writing her own seems risky. Not that she thinks Amity is on reddit, but Alanna might, and if Alanna saw it, Luz would never live it down.

Besides, she's pretty sure she knows what they'll say: she kissed you, she probably liked you before and might still like you, ask her out and see what happens. If there is a right thing to do in this situation, it's probably that.

But it's only been a day, and it was six years before that. They might both be totally different people. It's probably way too early for Amity to have any idea if she still likes Luz, or if she likes this version of Luz, or any of that. Besides, Amity knew what the kiss meant, so she probably hasn't spent six years thinking about it. And if she finds out Luz _has_ been thinking about it, she'll probably think it's pathetic. 

And it's not like Luz has been pining or anything! It wasn't as if Amity Blight consumed her every waking thought or anything. But Luz is a romantic, and even though she's had relationships and been on some great dates and to some fun parties, nothing in her life has ever been as romantic as her dance with Amity at grom and that single kiss goodbye. And that it ended like that made it even _more_ romantic, in some ways; it never had to get real and messy. If that had been how things ended for one of her ships, she would have written so much fanfic.

In her own life, it's just awkward. And dealing with it is so much _more_ awkward, especially when she'd finally accepted she never needed to deal with it. She had been so sure she'd never see any of them again, and now she's headed to the dining hall to have breakfast with Amity and Alanna.

It is, somehow, simultaneously a dream come true and a nightmare.

"I told her you know about the Isles," she tells Alanna as they walk, "but I figure we maybe don't talk about that. Just to be safe. Her story is that she's from Canada, so ask her about that, but not, like, _specific_ questions. I don't know how much of a backstory she came up with and honestly she and Gus are still not great at this so I don't want to find out."

"Hey, breathe. What do you think is going to happen?"

"Honestly? I think you and Amity are going to get along and it's going to be a totally normal breakfast."

"Wow, how terrible."

"I never said I was freaking out for valid reasons!"

"Luz, seriously, it's going to be fine. You have a crush! I love when you have crushes, it's awesome. You're such a mess."

"I don't have a crush! And if I did, it wouldn't be awesome for _me_."

"If I were you, I'd have a crush. I feel like everyone's got someone like that. Mine was this guy Marcus, we were counselors at the same camp. I went back the next year hoping we could hook up, but he wasn't there. Sometimes I still daydream about running into him."

"That's not a crush, that's just--wishful thinking. It's different."

"But she's here, right? It's not wishful thinking if it comes true."

She's not wrong, but it's really not the headspace Luz wants to be in going into breakfast. She never had a _crush_ on Amity. She liked Amity, and then Amity kissed her, and then she left. Wondering what would have happened if they saw each other again wasn't a crush. It's just Luz being an incurable romantic.

She and Alanna swipe their cards to get into the dining hall and grab their breakfast from the buffet, and when they get to the dining room, Luz spots Amity immediately, alone at her own little four-person table, her ears rounded again, her eyes scanning the room, looking for them. She still doesn't look like she belongs yet, but she's not as much of a stranger in a strange land. She's already settling in.

"There she is," Luz says, right as Amity spots them and waves.

"Very cute," says Alanna, and makes for the table.

She's already introducing herself by the time Luz catches up. "I'm Alanna, Luz's roommate from freshman year. I've heard so much about you."

Luz feels her face heat up. "A normal amount! She's heard a normal amount about you."

"Obviously, I wanted to hear everything," Alanna says, grinning. "I made her tell me about the Isles like it was a bedtime story. I couldn't get enough."

Luz relaxes a little. This can be normal. This doesn't have to be a huge deal. "Hey, I don't blame you. I would have done the same thing to you."

"So, yeah. You featured prominently." She takes the seat to Amity's right. "How are you liking it here?"

"It hasn't been long, but there's a lot to get used to. It's--not like my old school."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that," says Alanna. "Like, you haven't studied the same stuff we have, have you?"

"Not really. We were able to get some materials to review so we'd be more prepared, but it's going to be an interesting learning curve."

"How much did you come here?" Luz asks, unable to keep a little hurt out of her voice. "When did you start?"

"At the beginning of summer. At first, we just looked for you, but no one really knew what to do. That's when Gus came up with the idea to study abroad."

"Google!" says Luz. "You could have googled me and--well, okay, you get some random newspaper articles, I guess not my number or anything, but--"

Amity is smiling. "We had to figure out google, too. We thought once we got to know some hu--people here in the US, they could help us figure out how to find you."

Luz opens and closes her mouth. "That--makes a lot of sense. I was trying to find you, too," she adds. "Not that I could do much but go back to the place where the portal used to be and hang out, but I did that a lot!"

"The new portal is different, yeah. I think Eda went to the old spot, but it was mostly at night.

"Sorry for freaking out on you," says Luz, smiling a little. "I do get it, I know you looked for me, I just--I wish I'd known sooner. That I could have helped more."

"It's not too late. Honestly, we could still use some help."

"Gus didn't know how to say Chicago," Luz grants.

"We made an educated guess!"

"Wait, how else can you say it?" Alanna asks, and just like that, it's almost like any other breakfast, three friends chatting and making jokes and enjoying each others' company. And if, every now and then, Luz's eye catches on Amity's smile or the way she laughs, if she gets distracted with the sheer wonder of Amity being here, that's not a big deal. 

It could happen to anyone.

*

The first week of school is always hectic, but Luz tends to settle into a routine fairly quickly after that, and even with Amity at her school and the prospect of visiting the Boiling Isles again in a few weeks, the trend holds. Amity is living on the other side of campus, but they have a standing appointment (not date) to get coffee before art history three times a week, and they grab dinner in a central dining hall at least once a week. On Wednesday nights, they have a standing appointment for Luz (and Alanna, when she's free) to teach Amity and Gus about human things, and on weekends, they work on developing Amity's pop culture knowledge by watching movies in Luz's room.

By the time the full moon comes around, even Luz can admit their relationship has a lot of things in common with dating, and she wouldn't be upset if it had even more in common with dating. But Amity is hard to read; she's happy to see Luz, obviously, likes spending time with her, and sometimes, Luz thinks she's awkward or embarrassed, but it's hard to tell if that's because she likes Luz or something else. After all, she did kiss Luz six years ago, and they haven't talked about it, and that could be making Amity feel weird, like she's worried Luz is reading into it, or she's moved on and doesn't want to say that.

According to Alanna, as the kissee, it's still Luz's job to bring it up, and it might be true. If she had kissed Amity before she left, she would probably be waiting to see if Amity brought it up, and if she didn't, she'd assume Amity wasn't interested. She's just still not _quite_ ready to take the next logical leap and bring it up to Amity.

"Give me your hand," says Amity, startling Luz out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"The new travel method. I need your hand."

Luz holds one hand out, and Amity traces a symbol on it with her finger, the light touch making Luz shiver. The symbol glows for a second and then fades, warmth settling into her palm.

"Is that it?"

Amity smiles. "First step." She traces a wide circle with her hand, the largest Luz has ever seen, and once she closes it, the air inside ripples, opens up, and right in front of her eyes is another world.

"That's it?"

"It's more secure," says Amity, shrugging. "This way, you have to learn the spells. No key to steal." She gestures for Luz. "After you."

Stepping from the human realm into the Boiling Isles feels much less amazing than it is; she's going from inside to outside, like she climbed through Amity's window. It's not--

"Who goes there?" a voice demands, and then adds, "Hoot!" and Luz finds herself breaking out into a grin.

"Hooty! I can't believe it's you!"

"I can't believe it's me either."

"Is Eda home?" Amity asks, climbing through the portal and closing it behind her.

"Wouldn't yoooouuuu like to know."

Amity rubs her face. "Yes, obviously, that's why I asked."

"Just let us in, Hooty," says Luz, still grinning. _Miss_ is a strong word for her feelings towards Hooty, but it _is_ good to see him. The Boiling Isles wouldn't be the Boiling Isles without him. "We'll track her down."

"Fine. Hoot."

The door swings open and this Luz did miss, the small, strange living room that managed to feel so much like home even though nothing about it is particularly homey. And there, asleep on the couch, is King, just as tiny and adorable as she remembered.

"King!"

He jerks up awake, looking around wildly. "Who goes there! Be warned, I am a very powerful--Luz!"

He runs over and wraps himself around her legs, but Luz pulls him off and sweeps him up in a proper hug, one she can return. "I missed you so much!"

"You never said you missed _me_ ," Hooty points out.

"You didn't even say hi!"

"I can't believe you're here!" says King. "I can't believe you found her!"

"I got lucky," says Amity. "We ended up at the same school."

"Where's Eda?" Luz asks. "Is she here? Can I see her?"

"She and Lilith are at a council meeting," says King. "She'll be home soon. Come on, I have so much to show you! My army of minions is really growing."

Luz glances back at Amity, but she shrugs, smiles. "Go ahead. I'll see if I can track down Willow and bring her over. I know she'll want to see you too."

"That would be great, thank you."

It's not like no time has passed; the Owl House has changed, and so have King and Hooty, albeit not much. But it's like going back to her mom's house for summer vacation--even though it's not how it used to be, it still feels like _her_ place, somewhere she belongs.

"How long are you staying?" King asks, sounding hopeful.

"Just for a couple hours. Amity says if we don't leave before the moon sets, we're stuck until next month."

"Not stuck until next month. Visiting until next month!"

"I want to stay," she says, and it's not even a lie. "But if I disappear for a month, I'll get kicked out of school. Maybe I can come stay for the summer again."

"Yeah! You have to!"

It feels so easy, just stepping through a portal and back into her life here, but it's about as easy as it was the first time. Maybe not everything in the world has to be complicated. Maybe some things can just work out, like magic.

She's drawing light spells on scraps of paper, making sure her powers still work, when Willow and Amity get back, and then it's more hugging and catching up. Willow wants to hear all about the human world and how Gus (who's at a party tonight, instead of visiting home) is doing, and Luz is just as curious about what Willow's up to.

"I'm still studying plant magic, mostly," she says, practically glowing with pride. "But I have a side job working on transforming some of the areas damaged by the war into park space and I love it! I got really good at using plants as weapons, but I like using them as plants a lot more."

"That's amazing!" Luz elbows her. "Do you have a booooyfriend? Or a giiiiiiiirlfriend?"

Willow looks smug. "I have a few options in rotation. No one serious at the moment, but some good prospects. What about you? Any romance on the horizon?"

She doesn't look at Amity, but it takes some effort. "Maybe on the horizon, but nothing right now. I'm not great at dating. I'm really good at talking myself out of thinking people might be interested, you know? My friend Alanna says I'm really oblivious."

It's accurate, but she's mostly saying it for Amity's benefit. Still, it stings a little when Willow immediately nods. "Yeah, that does sound like you."

"Thanks."

Willow giggles. "It's one of your charms!"

Before Luz can respond, the door slams open and Eda slumps in. She doesn't really look older, but she does look more worn out, leaning heavily on Owlbert as she walks. It's hard to tell if it's because of six rough years or just because council meetings sound like Eda's own personal hell.

"Why did I agree to do this?" she asks the room at large. "Why did anyone think I would--" Her gaze finally hits Luz and she stops dead, still as stone. "Luz," she says, her expression and tone blank.

Luz waves. "Hi. Surprise? I would have called, but Amity said--"

"Luz!" Her face breaks out in a grin and she crosses the room in only a few steps, gathering Luz up into her arms for a hug. Luz never doubted Eda loved her, not really, but it's still a relief to know for sure that Eda _still_ loves her, that they've both been missing each other this much. "How did you find her?" she asks Amity, without letting Luz go.

"She found me."

"Good for you, kid." Eda pulls back to look at her. "You still keeping up with your magic?"

"I can't. It doesn't work in my realm for me. I guess I need the bile sack."

"Oh well. You're welcome back here anytime. How's human school, Amity? Just as bad as magic school?"

"Some of us like school, Eda," Amity teases, and Eda groans.

"Ugh, I forgot I'm surrounded by nerds. Oh well. We've got a few more hours, what do you kids want to do?"

Luz shakes off an odd jealousy that Amity and Eda are apparently friends now--they went through a _civil war_ together, of course they're friends--and puts on a bright smile. "I'm good with whatever Boiling Isles fun you guys can come up with!"

"What about--" Hooty starts, and she makes a face.

"Not you."

Eda puts her arm around Luz and gives her a squeeze. "So good to have you back, Luz."

Luz can't disagree.

*

"How was it?" Alanna asks the next morning. "Did it work? Can I come next time?"

"It worked, it was good, and yes, Eda says you're welcome. But she hasn't told anyone else that she reopened the path to the human world, so we have to keep kind of a low profile."

"I think I can handle that." She cocks her head at Luz. "Was it hard to leave? I know you missed everyone, and you were barely there at all."

"It was a little hard. But I can go back next month! It's a lot easier to be here when I know it's not, like, forever."

"That sounds like you aren't planning to stay here," Alanna observes. "Long term."

"Who says I have to decide? If the portal works and I can use it, I can just jump between them whenever I want! On a month-by-month basis."

"I don't know, I guess I just figured--stories end, you know? And the heroine always comes home, forever changed by her experience."

"Yeah, but why does that have to be the end?" Luz asks. "Who says she can't go back?"

"No one," says Alanna, but she's smiling a little strangely, a small, sad smile Luz doesn't quite understand.

"Do you think it would be weird if I went back to the Boiling Isles?" she asks Amity that afternoon. They have an art history quiz coming up, so they're in Amity's room studying, but Luz can't stop thinking about the conversation with Alanna. As soon as she knew that she could go back, it just felt obvious that she would. It hadn't occurred to her that anyone would think anything else.

Amity frowns. "Um, we went back last night."

"I meant to stay. Not that I _am_ going to stay, but I could, right? That's an option. Just like you could stay here, if you wanted." Amity cocks her head, and Luz hastens to add, "Or Gus! Or Willow. Probably not Eda, I don't think the human realm is for her. But any of us could settle anywhere, if we wanted."

"Sorry, what's the question again?"

"I guess from the way I talk about it, Alanna thought I was planning to move back there someday. And I wasn't really _planning_ to, but I miss it. I wouldn't mind staying. Do you think that's weird?"

Amity closes her book, studying Luz instead. "I would have, before I came here. I thought--" She smiles a little, shakes her head. "I know how hard you worked, but I never got over feeling like it was so easy for you in the Boiling Isles. I was working so hard to try to be the person my parents wanted me to be, and then you just--breezed in! And you made everything bend to suit you. You didn't care if you were hanging out with the unpopular kids, you weren't afraid of everyone seeing your worst fears, you made them let you study all the magic you wanted, and it was just--who you were. I thought in the human world, you'd be exactly the same, but you're not."

"What do you mean?"

"When I see you here, you remind me of how I used to be. Before I met you. Like you're trying to belong in a place where you don't really want to be in the first place."

Luz swallows, her mouth gone suddenly dry. It's been a long time since she felt so seen. "Yeah. That's how it's always been for me. I never fit in."

"Until you did."

"Yeah." She swallows again, makes her voice bright. "What about you? You think the human realm is the right fit for you?"

"No. I could live here if I had to, but it wouldn't be my first choice."

"Why would you have to?"

"If I wanted to," she corrects, but she's looking away, and suddenly, Luz can feel everything lining up, all the pieces sliding into place. She hasn't been waiting, exactly, but she thought she'd know when she was ready.

She sits up, watching Amity. "Did you think you were going to stay?"

"No."

"But you thought you might."

"Maybe."

"Did you think you might want to be with me?" she asks, before he courage fails her. "If I did belong here, did you think you might stay for me?"

Amity goes pink, but she doesn't look away. "I--" Her throat bobs as she swallows. "That was one possibility. I didn't know if things would have changed."

"What, you thought I was going to get _less_ awesome?" Luz teases. "Like that would ever happen."

Her mouth twitches. "That wasn't my biggest fear."

"Yeah, I know. Your biggest fear is rejection."

"And it's hard to get rejected if you kiss someone and never see them again," she says, voice too light.

"Yeah," Luz agrees. "But if you do that, you don't get to kiss them again."

She shifts a little, swaying closer to Luz like an invitation. "No, I didn't."

Amity was Luz's first kiss, and as first kisses went, it was pretty perfect. But she's kissed a few more people since then, and she's gotten better at it. More importantly, they have time now. This isn't a quick kiss goodbye, this is Luz leaning in close to Amity, kissing her long and deep, like she's been thinking about off and on for six years. This is the kiss she's wanted to have, the kiss she's regretted giving up, and Amity kisses her back like she's been thinking about it just as much as Luz has.

They don't pull back until a crash in the hall startles them apart, and even then, they don't go far, grinning at each other from a few inches apart. Since they're alone in the room, Amity hasn't bothered with the illusion on her ears, and Luz is absurdly happy that this was the Amity she got to kiss, the real one.

The one she's always wanted to kiss again.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to do that," Amity admits.

"I wasn't sure you did! It's been six years, I thought you changed your mind! Or that it was just--I don't know! I had a lot of explanations for why you didn't really want to kiss me. I'm really good at those."

Amity laughs. "I really wanted to kiss you."

"Really _want_ to kiss me," Luz corrects.

"Really want to kiss you," Amity agrees, and does.

*

It doesn't take long for Luz to settle into a new routine, and this one is definitely even better than the last. About half the time, she spends the night with Amity in one of their rooms, and even when she doesn't, she gets breakfast with Amity and Alanna, and sometimes lunch. They study together in the afternoons and get dinner together in the evening. Amity makes friends with a few kids in her computer science class, and Luz gets her to join the queer student union, and they carve out a little place for themselves on campus where they fit well enough, even if they don't fit perfectly.

And on full moons, they go to the Owl House, sometimes with Alanna, sometimes with Gus, but always the two of them, no matter what's happening the next day. They meet Eda's new students and Luz starts learning new spells. King teaches her the new demons he's learned since she left, and Hooty is, well Hooty. Amity comes home with her for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and her mother doesn't even seem that upset that her daughter is dating a witch.

"As long as she makes you happy, _mija_ ," she tells Luz, kissing her on the cheek. "Now go set the table."

"I think I could get used to this," Luz tells Amity, as she passes her on the couch. "Want to help set the table?"

"Sure," says Amity. "Get used to what, exactly?"

"Everything."

"Oh." She smiles. "I could get used to that too."


End file.
